MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has approved the new set of mandatory general education (GE) subjects that will be taught to college students who have finished the added two years of high school under the K to 12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) program.

The new GE curriculum will be taken up for only one year (or 18 units every semester) instead of two years as currently practiced since most of the old GE subjects will already be taken up in senior high school (Grades 11 to 12).

The shortened GE curriculum has prompted all collegiate disciplines, which take four to five years to finish, to revise the content and length of their respective curriculum before the K to 12 graduates enter college in 2018.

“Yes (the new GE curriculum) is approved already. We’re in the process of consultations. In general, the reception is quite positive,” CHEd chairperson Patricia Licuanan said in a recent interview.

She confirmed that the engineering technical panel has already decided to shorten the course from five years to four years because of the K to 12 program.

The technical panels of experts formed by CHEd for every collegiate discipline will decide whether to shorten the course, or to keep the length but add more major subjects.

“The decision is not across the board. It will be discipline-based,” Licuanan said.

“Engineering has already said instead of five it will be taken in four (years). I personally feel there are some courses that could be taken in three years, but that’s up to the technical committees and they’re working on it now. But they have that leeway” to decide, the CHEd chairperson went on.

She said the technical panels would make their decisions by the middle of the year since “2014 is when we hope to implement a number of things, so that means by this year we have those decisions already made.”

At present, college students are required to take up (GE) subjects such as communication, math, science, history and physical education during their first two years before they can take up subjects for their respective disciplines.

Licuanan said GE teachers would have to be trained in teaching the GE subjects in the new curriculum “in a broader way.”

Sources involved in the drafting said the new GE curriculum consisted of 12 subjects, including the mandatory subject on the life and works of national hero Jose Rizal.

The eight GE subjects are Understanding the Self, Contemporary World, Purposive Communication, Art Appreciation, Ethics, Readings in Philippine History, Mathematics in the Modern World, Science and Technology (ST) and Society.

The students are allowed to choose three elective subjects.

The shortened GE curriculum and the implementation of senior high school in 2016 and 2017 have raised the scenario where colleges and GE teachers will have no one in teach during those two years.

The K to 12 law crafted by Congress calls for a two-year transition period where college teachers who teach GE subjects can teach in Grade 11 and 12.

Licuanan said they have not finalized any arrangement with higher education institutions on the fate of displaced GE teachers.

“There’s no solution yet. Obviously we accept it as a problem. But K to 12 was necessary and therefore there will be some sacrifices entailed. What we’re trying to do now is to make sure those sacrifices aren’t too big,” she said.

DepEd already approved the curriculum for Grades 11 and 12 last December.

Senior high school will be implemented nationwide in 2016. But the 30 high schools that piloted Grade 11 last year will see their senior high school students graduate in March 2014.

The subjects taken up by these students should be credited when they enter college, Licuanan said.

“My only concern is they can’t count the same courses twice,” she said.

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Billy Reyes

I believe our country should teach at least 1 foreign language in the kindergarten because young age is the perfect age to learn language.
Spanish would be perfect & easy to learn, it is one of the widest spoken language in the world.
If you apply a job in social media companies like google, tweeter, facebook, microsoft etc., more languages you know is really an advantage.
Internet will become the biggest industry in the future almost everything will be done in internet. And communication will play a big part of it

WoBushi

For as long as we don’t create new and more opportunities for our graduates, we just add to their frustrations and disappointments, and they wil continue lining up for jobs abroad.

JOHNCeneza

I hope Financial management is one of those GE

$44479964

financial management cannot be a general education subject because it is a highly-specific discipline.

centro laiko

it was exclusive to those enrolled in business courses. that was a mistake. everyone must learn financial management.

JOHNCeneza

It should be reclassified as General Education. It shouldn’t be as complicated as taken in business courses. Make something like Elementary Financial Management or Everyday Personal Finances for dumbies.

henry21

CHED should consider the number of hours spend by students in school. In abroad, the K to 12 considers the length of time spend by students in school and the subjects taught.

The students should not be spending more than 5 hours in school. More than that, they are already tired and their minds can no longer absorbs the lessons. Considering the conditions of our classrooms in public schools, time spend should be lessened.

tyurl

These subjects (Understanding the Self, Art Appreciation, Contemporary World) should be electives. Increase the mandatory units of communication, math courses and perhaps add business and finance. History should likewise be tackled both from the global and local perspectives. We need more technically-inclined, innovative and entrepreneurial graduates who are capable of communicating their ideas well in a more globalized setting to advance our society.

$44479964

Additional math courses? We study math since Kindergarten.

tyurl

Yes more math-at least in the near term. We can reduce the math courses as soon as the quality of math education picks up. Standards followed by RP schools have been pretty low generally albeit with a few exceptions. Based on IFC World Competitiveness indicators, quality of Math and Science education in the Phils lags behind the five other major economies in S.E. Asia. And we are at the bottom 35% globally (out of the 144 economies evaluated).

The members of the technical committee for GE subjects obviously had not read Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap. The most important skill in the 21st century is Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Unfortunately, this subject is not on the list.

Don

it’s a good thing that history, art, and the humanities have not been dropped. there has been pressure to drop them because they are deemed non-technical and therefore (sic) a useless expense. But it is the humanities that complete a person’s mental and cultural development. Humanities are the core of education that have allowed human civilization to advance. If we do not teach the young about Humanities, we will be churning out — in the words of national artist for literature – “uneducated graduates” or “educated barbarians.” Without the humanities such as art, culture and history and literature, our universities and colleges would be nothing more than vocational or technical schools churning out highly skilled technicians who do not have culture in their souls. That is why the Liberal Arts are called Liberal. They liberate the minds and souls.

http://www.facebook.com/noel.gabriel.98 Noel Gabriel

well I think arts humanities and history for me should really be dropped or should not be taught in the college level as these are really useless and a waste of effort and money on the part of the students….history, arts and literature are being taught in the elementary and high school…the students can learn this subjects through self study..the internet..the books in the library..conversing with a knowledgeable people can help students attain information and learnings about these subjects…I think technical subjects should be taught instead as they will help students to be well equip with skills that could help them attain their goal.

Paolo Lim

Have they heard of the A-levels?

JasonBieber

That’s all nice and cute but how are students going to take advantage of those new subjects if they can;t even afford to pay for tuition?

CHED and the Palace should also address and create solutions to support those students deserving to study but yet cannot afford it.